To Destroy Darkness
by KageFuego4
Summary: The path to power is also the road to ruin. Shadow doesn't care. Be aware of eventual Keyblade knockoffs and relatively slow plot progression. - Discontinued. To be rewritten at a later date. -
1. The Beginning

I don't own Sonic The Hedgehog or any other trademarks presented in this story.

Hell, the idea barely belong to me either.

Also, be wary of multiple chapters of flashback.

* * *

Shadow the Hedgehog began his morning routine the same way he always had for the past three months. He awoke at 7:15 in the morning, opened the shades of his home to let the morning light in to illuminate his bedroom, not to mention the fact that lights cost too much to have in every room.

The room itself was rather small, but then again, he never spent much time here anyway. Plain white carpet covered the floor, unpainted white walls, a wooden desk with a pale green laptop and a framed portrait of "The Gang", in which each and every member of the sonic team had managed to get into the picture - as well as take the liberty to be in the most ridiculous pose they could manage, even Vanilla - and a mattress much too large for him was placed in the corner opposite the three doors in the room, bathroom, closet - for 'souvenirs' - and door to the kitchen and living/guest room. Lying next to the pillow of the bed, in easy reach should an emergency arise - and for peace of mind - was a sheathed sword.

Stepping over to his bedside to retrieve his sword, Shadow couldn't help but smirk when recalling how it had come to be in his possession.

Flashback:

It'd been a rather odd mission for Team Dark. Figure out what was up with some underground disturbance, assigned by GUN, minimal pay, unknown danger level, etc…., the usual works, but with a catch.

It was a joint assignment with another team. This team had reason to believe that the suspect they were chasing had something to do with it. The team sent? Team Sonic. The obvious suspect? One "Doctor Ivo Robotnik". Unfortunately, whenever the two were involved with each other, explosions and commotion were bound to ensue. Such was their way. As such, Team Dark would be monitoring - babysitting - Team Sonic.

To say that Shadow was less than pleased with the arrangement would've been an understatement. He made this known to everyone when he asked "Why the hell is this idiot coming with us!"

Since Rouge - and unfortunately, sonic - knew his mannerisms well enough, with Omega as a close second, she was able to phrase the reason in a way that he'd understand. "Tails will be there too, so his stupid will be cancelled out by the smart, now stop complaining or I'll smack you" she grumbled.

In the background, Tails could only blush in embarrassment. Whether it was due to being twelve years old & beginning to understand what was so 'Special' about the female populace, and being complimented by a twenty two year old Rouge in the same old revealing attire or he simply still had trouble accepting compliments was unknown. Sonic, a much wiser man with his twenty years, merely responded with a "your mother" and continued his conversation with Knuckles.

"As if you could touch m-" Shadow's retort was cut off as they neared their destination. A few ruins located near the center of Emerald Forest were said to be concealing Eggman's latest endeavor. They found it, but something about the place seemed, well, out of place.

The others were just as taken aback as Shadow, but the first to recover, surprisingly, was Knuckles. Having felt more than enough ominous and intimidating presences to last him a lifetime, the echidna finding himself only slightly ruffled by the strange force, decided to take charge "C'mon guys, it's just a lingering aura of the past civilization" but added under his breath "they must've been pretty damn powerful to leave a trace like this though" unfortunately, the others heard this.

Roused from their momentary stupor, the other five heroes followed Knuckles towards the ruins. Being so out of it, the only ones able to escape the pit trap they fell into were Knuckles, Tails and Rouge, solely due to the fact that flight - of some form - was their specialty. Shadow, Sonic and Omega were not so fortunate, as they continued to plummet deeper underground and unknowingly into the center of their target's base.

Thankfully, the three of them landed on their feet, Sonic and Shadow landing gracefully as Omega simply smashed into the ground, creating a five foot crater in the stone cavern they had landed in and startling the two hedgehogs. "Omega, what's wrong?" the dark hedgehog queried, concerned.

The automaton lay silent and unresponsive. The pressure from before seemed to flare up again, rooting the two heroes to the spot, then died down.

Omega's optical sensors flared to life, a whirring sound emanated from within his body, then the grinding of gears began for a few minutes, then stopped.

Silence.

"There is an anomaly within this tunnel causing my systems to malfunction." The robot stated. "A strategic retreat is advised, extreme danger lies ahead."

Both hedgehogs perked up at this, ears alert and a twinkle in their eyes.

"Extreme" Sonic muttered.

"Danger" Shadow whispered at the same time.

They both looked at each other, words and question passing through their eyes alone, before they both nodded to each other.

"Omega" shadow addressed. "Sonic and I will scout the area ahead, I'll send you back up to relay this to them."

"Oh, yeah!" the blue hedgehog added, fist cupped in hand, a sign of a revelation. "Tell them that the wrist communicators won't work down here, so they'll probably have to stay in a group-"

"And someone should stay up there with you, as a lookout-" the black one interjected.

"You know, just in case trouble decides to try and get the drop on us." Sonic finished, the hedgehogs glaring at each other by now.

Omega instantly processed the tag team order and responded "Affirmative, the message will be relayed." Then prompted "What will my method of transport be?"

Sonic looked at shadow, who had already closed his eyes, imagining the clearing they had entered before falling prey to the trap in the ruins and whispered "Chaos Control" transporting their ally to his destination.

Sonic gave a whistle of appreciation and asked "You know, you're gonna have to teach me how to do that too, right?"

To which shadow scoffed. "Not until you at least get the hang of normal Chaos Control without needing an emerald."

"Oh come on Shads!" Sonic whined. "You've taught me lots of cool, chaos tricks already, what's one more?"

"First and foremost" Shadow announced, holding one finger up "calling me 'Shads' is going to drastically lower your life span" Sonic gulped, sweat now trickling down his brow. "Second of all" now two fingers were up. "They are techniques, not tricks." A roll of the eyes from Sonic. "Thirdly" a third finger. "I've only helped you with techniques you already know and can do. Like that windy thing of yours" Shadow explained, wiggling the three fingers so as to emphasize the 'windy' aspect of his companion's skill.

Taking offense, Sonic threw his hands into the air "Sonic Wind!" he exclaimed "It's called, the Sonic Wind!"

Unimpressed by the interruption, Shadow continued "and finally, fourth on the list, is that we should get going." He concluded, jerking his thumb in the direction of the pitch black tunnel to their left, in all of its unwelcoming glory.

Not discouraged at all by the gaping maw of darkness that the shaft of light from the opening - waaaay uuuup theeeere - they had fallen through seemed unable to penetrate, Sonic tried a different approach. "Fine, how about this" he offered. "I show you that I've mastered the - quote - 'techniques' - unquote - you've shown me, and you help me develop this nifty move I've been working on, deal?" He knew the only reason Shadow would even consider the offer would be because he was intrigued by the new move he had hinted at.

"Very well then" Shadow sighed, knowing that he'd fallen for the bait. "If you can hold that reinforced 'Sonic Wind' of yours for the duration of this mission, I'll help you test out this move" was his counteroffer. Plus, they needed light.

"Awright, you got yourself a deal Shadster!" His hand outstretched before him, waiting for his potential training buddy to shake on it and make the deal legitimate.

Another sigh, Shadow took the hand and gave it a single, firm shake. The bet had been initiated. "Ok then, let's begin. You'd better hope this ends before you either run out of energy or lose your focus" he commented, reaching over and producing a pulsating yellow diamond the size of his fist from within Sonic's cobalt quills and placing it within his own jet black ones, near his left outermost, crimson streak "for fairness' sake, I'm confiscating the chaos emerald though" a smirk on his face.

Unruffled, Sonic merely shrugged, a lopsided grin etched onto his face in anticipation of the challenge. Green eyes locked onto crimson, stating his readiness before closing his eyes and stretching his right arm into the air, palm facing the sky as he concentrated. Wisps of light blue chaos energy began swirling about, converging just above the center of his palm, merging into each other to form a swirling vortex of power encased in a ball emitting a sharp blue light and a scream of rushing winds sounded from within the orb, signaling the completion of his technique. His eyes snapped open with a cry of "Sonic Hammer!" the sphere of energy as large as his palm now cupped in his hand was shown to Shadow.

"Impressive" was all Shadow could say, before gathering his wits and willing his face back into its default impassive expression, his mission face. "It's much stronger than before, you've been practicing on your own" he observed.

"Yeah, I'm amazing, I know" Sonic grinned, pleased at his rival's veiled compliment.

"Don't let it get to your head though" Shadow added, a smirk tugging at the edge of his lips "that's how most idiots end up dead." Leaving Sonic to wonder if that was a bit of friendly advice or an insult, the ebony hedgehog muttered "Chaos Spear" and a few golden sparks danced across his hand before forming an orb of his own, a simple ball of solid yellow, hovering mere centers away from his glove, cradled in the palm of his left hand, highlighting his face in yellow, as Sonic's was cast in a flickering blue glow from his own.

"Showoff" Sonic grumbled, before using his makeshift light to find the right side of the tunnel as Shadow located the left side and they both discovered that there was enough space in the tunnel for a cargo truck to travel through, if slightly cramped. Nodding to each other, the two set off down the path, Shadow on the left & sonic on the right, the cave illuminated by the dual glows of their 'lights' allowing them a radius of vision twenty feet around them.

Assured that they'd be able to react to any obstacles along the path, the two changed their steady walk into a brisk jog - a light fifty miles per hour warm up pace - down the cavern, the hum of hover shoes and rapid pattering of sneakers reverberating off of the walls along with the howl of wind and displaced air from the speed of the adventurers' trek only adding to the eerie quality of their current location.

After a few minutes into their run had passed, a faint noise could be heard, prompting the two to slow back down into a cautious walk. Soon after, a dim light appeared in the distance, followed by a pair of large, imposing wooden doors, closed and highlighted by the bright white light being kept out of view because of them. As the duo drew closer to the doors, the noise ceased and the light tapered off. The two looked at each other.

"On three, we bust in and smash up whatever Eggman's got cooking this time, agreed?"

"I suppose I can ask the good doctor a few questions afterwards, also, I guess you win the bet now."

"Sweet!" Sonic announced. "Let's bust some badniks and get on with our lives!" he roared, smashing his Sonic Hammer into the jamb between both doors.


	2. Ivo Gets an Upgrade

Dr. Ivo Robotnik was ecstatic, euphoria seemed to roll off of him in waves. Metal Sonic's assimilation would be complete, and a god would be his ally. It had all started two days ago, after a particularly humiliating defeat at the hands of a certain blue hedgehog.

Flashback within Flashback:

While slinking off into Emerald forest in order to escape the persistent GUN members attempting to arrest him - unsuccessfully - yet again, he - literally - stumbled upon an underground staircase skillfully hidden beneath grass and dirt. Figuring that he could use the exercise, and the egg walker was trashed anyway, Ivo descended the steps swiftly - and surprisingly, considering his large girth - in search of anything interesting, to spend some time investigating, until Metal Sonic came and located him. Twenty minutes of walking - and an aspirin - found Eggman standing before a plain wooden door, sweaty and wishing for a change of clothes or at least a glass of water, not to ease his fatigue, but to calm his nerves after being so thoroughly frightened by whatever presence seemed to be emanating from behind this simple door.

Taking a deep breath and slapping the sides of his face with his hands, the man grasped the doorknob, pushed open the door and stepped back. The sheer feeling of malevolence in the room seemed to weigh down upon the poor man, but just as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared, leaving a terrified, hyperventilating scientist in its wake.

However, considering himself a man able to adapt and thrive in any situation, Robotnik merely calmed his breathing, all the while whispering "Easy there Ivo, easy there" brushed himself off and stepped into the room. What he found both surprised and disappointed him.

What lay behind the door was a simple, massive room. Equal in length to a football field and with a width just the same, he expected to find various treasures or tapestries littering the ground, but the room was bare, save for the table, no, a small altar in the center of the room. With only a small bit of trepidation, the good doctor strode towards the point of interest, noticing some things lying atop it.

Upon closer inspection, there were two items resting atop the slab of stone "offerings, perhaps?" he mused aloud. Forcibly drawing the eye to it first was a dark blade, black as night, seemingly endless as the doctor found that he had been vacantly staring at the blade, admiring the razor sharp edged and straight, rather than curved blade make of the finely crafted weapon. Eventually, his eyes came upon the hilt, a pristine, unblemished white, free of any designs and lacking a crossguard. "Well now, isn't that peculiar?" he muttered, viewing what must be the sheath of the sword due to its resemblance of the hilt, the same ivory color, simplistic and unassuming, yet as soothing and calming as the blade beside it was malevolent and frightening. "Fascinating" he muttered, reaching into his filthy, tattered red jacket and removing a silver pen from one of the many pockets within. "Computer, scan" he commanded, pointing at the table.

A thin red beam flashed over the contents of the altar for a moment, then disappeared, followed by a gentle whirring sound from the extremely thin supercomputer. A few seconds later, it responded "analysis complete" before continuing to drone on in its feminine voice "unidentified metal detected, components unknown. Blade style similar to the Chokuto of early tenth century, late ninth century Japan. A single edged straight sword twenty five inches in length, the Chokuto in general was later rendered obsolete when invading mong-"

"Enough, Computer" Robotnik sighed "report your analysis of the next subject."

"Understood, doctor" the computer complied "Subject identified as ironwood, hollowed out and fashioned into the ten inch Tsuka, or handle, of Subject One, and the entirety of Subject two appears to be made up of ironwood as well as hollowed out to serve as a sheath, perhaps for Subject One, their lengths do appear to be ideal for each other. Also, unknown energy signature located within Subject O-" is as far as the computer got, before the dark presence from before spiked, sending the doctor to his knees, finding it to be a struggle just breathing. While on the ground, he noticed a few symbols etched into the base of the altar but unable to concentrate due to the predicament he now found himself in.

"**Rise, pitiful creature**" a deep, dark voice boomed across the room, creating an earsplitting pain in robotnik's skull, adding to the pressure in the room and forcing him to his hands as well, dropping the supercomputer in the process. "**Cease your cowering and stand**" the voice demanded.

To his credit, he tried, valiantly in fact. Unfortunately, it only amounted to a bit of shaking before he completely collapsed, face down on the cold stone floor, trembling and gasping for air. "Please, calm your spirit, my body can't handle it!" he cried out, realizing what sort of entity he was dealing with.

"**Very well, pathetic creature**"the room echoed. The pressure of the room now noticeably weaker but still there, always ready to spike back at any moment. "**I do believe you'd be more useful to me alive, anyhow**" the presence mused.

Realizing that he had no choice in the matter, the doctor quickly jumped at the opportunity to please. "Yes, of course!" he said, stumbling to his feet, now that breathing was no longer an issue. "I." a pause for dramatic effect "The great Doctor Robotnik" a flourish of the hand and an elaborate bow "will do all in my power, to serve you." _And you can help me along the way_ he thought to himself.

"**Yes, you will serve me perfectly**" the voice purred. "**But first, a test.**"

"A test?"

"**Yes, a test.**" It repeated. "**Before you lies a blade, within this blade is where I reside.**"

"I'm assuming, you either wish to find a much more mobile dwelling…. Or even more unlikely…."

"**Correct**" it finished."**Someone with the, qualities, necessary to wield my power.**"

"Hmmmm, that is rather interesting" he mused, stroking his moustache in thought, honestly intrigued. "But first, this test?"

"**Take hold of the weapon, myself, known as Oblivion**" it commanded.

"Ah, so your name is…. Oblivion?" he queried, stepping toward the blade. He grasped the hilt.

For a split second, inexplicable pain engulfed him. Images flashed before his eyes, words of power, concepts, the gods, conflict, a god among gods, a cataclysmic surge of power, fear, anger, elation, rage. Robotnik collapsed.

"**A shame**" is what he heard upon awakening. "**However, I did bestow innate strength upon you, among other, talents**" Oblivion the blade stated.

"I was deemed unworthy to wield you, my apologies, sire" Ivo bowed, on his hands and knees, head touching the floor.

"**Ah, it would seem you understood more than I expected you to**" Oblivion claimed, a touch of surprise evident. "**Unfortunately, not enough for complete comprehension**" it added.

"No matter" the now standing man replied. "I do believe there is a way to get you into a more mobile dwelling. A host, of sorts" he explained, standing straight, elbows in palms and held behind his back.

"**Is that so?**" the blade inquired, intrigued. "**Do go on.**"

"At this moment, a subordinate of mine is on his way here."

"**And, what is so special about him?**"

"I am positive that one of the various upgrades that I have installed into him will enable the two of you to merge. A few assimilation nanites, I do believe" he replied, pride evident in his voice.

**"When shall he arrive?**"

"No more than a few hours, three or four at most."

End of Flashback within Flashback:

Unfortunately, it had -suspiciously - taken a little over twelve hours for Metal Sonic to detect his creator's presence & locate the hidden entrance. His circuits were also unable to withstand the random bursts of pressure that Oblivion seemed to be exuding - Ivo's portly, yet drastically improved body was able to cope with them, effortlessly now - and promptly began to malfunction.

On the bright side, Robotnik could now punch through stone - discovered when he stomped the floor in frustration, gouging a hole into it - and Metal Sonic had gotten a large bucket of waffle fries from a Chick-fil-A it had been passing by on the way - and burned down after recieving his order - thus averting a serious crisis.

"Stupid marvel of genius technology" Ivo grumbled to himself, eating out of his waffle fry bucket with one hand and examining Metal Sonic with the other, his multipurpose screwdriver held at the ready, scanning Metal's interior.

"No abnormalities detected" it chimed in the same female voice as the supercomputer.

Ivo sighed "The pressure must simply be too much for your metal frame to cope with" he informed the android, tapping it on the shoulder with his screwdriver, a signal to stand. "Anyway, I need you to assimilate that blade over, posthaste, if you will" he ordered, directing his underling towards the ominous blade.

"Yes doctor" he replied, synthetic voice devoid of inflection, yet reflecting it's irritation anyhow as he began slowly tromping towards the altar, wondering how the fool had no trouble maneuvering in this overly pressurized dungeon and why he sent him to get the useless strip of…. Metal? As his hand clenched around the dark substance of the actual weapon, he began assimilation, which is when his systems failed and he was lost to the world.

"My god" he breathed, awestruck. Robotnik couldn't believe his eyes. He had ever even imagined it possible for assimilation nanites to be not only overcome, but reversed as well. He thought that perhaps a bit of mental cohabitation with his machine would be the worst of it, but not…. This. His goggles had been pulled down over his eyes, allowing him to see past the otherwise blinding white light and into the greatest feat imaginable. Cold steel, circuits and wires, becoming warm flesh, blood and bone. The light became too much to ignore, even with the goggles, and his eyes burned in protest, forcing him to shut them while crying out in pain and frustration, clutching them and falling to his knees until the light suddenly died down. _Is it over? _He thought. Then the wall exploded.


	3. Oblivion?

Alright, the action is paltry, at best. I'll admit it. Does anyone have any ideas on how it can be improved in some way?

* * *

"Let's get it on!" Sonic whooped in delight, jumping into the cloud of smoke & debris in the adjoining room.

"Pray that this place doesn't collapse on us" Shadow muttered while jumping in after him.

"What the hell's going on now?" a familiar voice bellowed, accompanied by a brief coughing fit. "Oblivion, Metal Sonic, was the process successful?" he asked.

"Huh, Eggman and Metal me are both here?" Sonic quipped. "Guess I get to kick two butts in one go, eh Shads?" he commented, nudging him in the shoulder with an elbow.

"Stop that, you idiot" the calmer of the two replied, smacking the offending appendage away. "I see the doctor, but" now squinting his eyes "that doesn't really look like your robotic copy" he finished.

"Maybe it's that Oblivion person Eggman just mentioned?" Sonic offered.

Robotnik recognized the voices "Sonic?" he groaned. "Why is that blue rat here, of all the times he could show up…. gah!" he shrieked, noticing shadow as well when the dust finally cleared. "Good to see you Shadow, I guess." He grumbled to the hedgehog.

"Likewise" he flatly replied.

Well now, this is quite…. **Nostalgic**" a deep voice boomed, putting the two hedgehogs on edge while Robotnik remained unfazed.

"Oh!" Robotnik exclaimed, upright once more. "How do you feel…. Oblivion?"

"I **must become mo**re accu**stomed to t**his body, as well as the fact that my **gracious** host doesn't seem to understand how existing in this state is possible" he responded, stepping into view for all to see. Jet black fur covered his entire body from head to toe, rippling with muscles, endless pools of inky darkness serving as eyes, long tail swishing back and forth behind him in amusement while rounded ears atop his head twitched every now and again in response to subtle sounds. "It wo**uld seem th**at my own form was chosen as the template for our…. **Merge**" he purred, revealing sharpened pearly white incisors while examining his hands as claws extended from then retracted into the fingertips.

"That it does" Ivo responded, in awe of the transformation. "I can't see a trace of Metal Sonic's features at all" he breathed out.

"What!" Sonic blurted "You had this person, no, thing, possess Metal me?" now pointing at the unfamiliar person. Outraged at what he'd overheard. Now pointing to the annoyed doctor instead "Did you even give him a choice?" he shouted.

"Metal Sonic was but an advanced mechanical soldier, created by yours truly" he responded, unperturbed. "While he is one of a kind, that is only due to the materials and methods used to create him, his objectives were the same as every other machine I've created" this only proved to further anger Sonic, as the hedgehog took a menacing step towards him. "Furthermore, Metal Sonic had no will, preference, emotion or personality to speak of. He - no, it - was simply another robot" he icily finished.

"You heartless bastard!" the blue one cried, moving to attack, until a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, halting his rush, due to the sheer fact that Shadow was almost never gentle. He turned to look his friend in the eyes.

He remained as impassive as ever, stoic expression unchanged. But the soft "Calm down, idiot" was more than enough to ease his emotions back into a manageable state. With a nod to his companion, he lowered and unclenched the fists that he'd unconsciously made, then stood up straight, his posture visibly relaxing a bit.

'_I didn't realize he'd grown so attached'_ Shadow mused, '_both of them' _he amended upon noticing Ivo's almost imperceptible trembling. "Stop trying to be so professional, doctor. You are quite the actor" he stated, arms crossed above his chest "I know that you cared about that particular 'soldier' much more than you'd like to admit" amusement glinting in his eyes for just a moment "after all, you told me that yourself" to which the doctor visibly flinched. Then gave a wry grin.

"As perceptive as ever, eh?" he mumbled.

"Are these more allies of yours, professor?" the forgotten panther guessed.

"Oh, heavens no!" he exclaimed "they're nothing of the sort, well" he hesitated "not at the moment, in Shadow's case" he amended.

"Then I see no issue with testing my command of this body upon these two" he stated.

Shadow scoffed, Sonic chuckled. The two glanced at each other "The usual?" Shadow inquired.

"Of course" his companion nodded. Both of them now facing each other, one arm in front of them clenched into a fist.

"Rock"

"Paper"

"Scissors"

"Says…."

"Shoot!"

"Yeah, I won!" Sonic exclaimed, waving his fist in front of Shadow's face as he glared at the two fingers that lost him the game.

"You just got lucky" he muttered, crossing his arms again "make it quick."

"Pfft, don't insult me Shads" Sonic said, pointing a thumb at himself now "don't blink, or you just might miss it" flashing a toothy smile.

'_This may get ugly, it'd probably be in my best intentions to make some space' _Robotnik thought, as he backed up to the stairway door.

"Come now, blue hedgehog" it chuckled "I doubt that you could even serve as a warm u-" then Sonic dashed at him, kicking up loose stone and leaving a blue streak in his wake, his fist hurtling towards the beast's surprised face. An attack he easily caught by the wrist.

"What the?" Sonic struggled to get his arm out of the viselike grip as he was lifted with ease and sent hurtling towards the opposite wall, but simply flipped in the air, landing on the surface, feet first in a crouch.

He jumped back to the ground and dashed towards his opponent once more before somersaulting in the air, feet over his head, to smash his heel into the other's skull, only to be blocked with a forearm and pushed back into the air before landing on his feet a meter away. "Come now" he mocked the hero "surely you can do more than just a few acrobatics" a bored expression on his face.

Sonic dashed again, appearing right before the cocky man's face, unleashing punch after punch, no longer aiming for a specific spot, but simply trying to land a hit. The panther easily avoids the sloppy whirlwind of fists, amused at the pathetic display until something changes, he notices an upward curve in the frustrated boy's lips, his leg a blue blur, then searing pain in his jaw sends him crashing into the pedestal, destroying it. The blade and sheath spin into the air then land, the blade stuck into the stone near his hand and the sheath lying at his feet.

Rubbing his sore jaw - _'it must be fractured now'_ - he rises to his feet, grasps the hilt of the blade and removes it from the stone before retrieving the sheath as well. "I thank you for allowing me the time to gather my bearings as well as my weapon, boy" he acknowledged.

"Eh, no prob" a shrug of the shoulders "you did it for me, so I guess it was only fair."

"I see, unfortunately, **you'll most likely be dying now**" he deadpanned, dark eyes now filled with a burning fire in the center, the ominous pressure from before returning tenfold, the air itself rushing about in the room, forcing all present to shield themselves with their arms in an attempt to stop the gusts from bowling them over while dust and small bits of debris made it difficult to see.

Shadow snapped his fingers, causing a small flash of light to envelop his hand for a moment before fading away to reveal a simple silver pistol in his grasp, finger at the trigger, ready and waiting. He received his signal a moment later, the sound of metal whistling through the air, the smell of blood on the air - _"The idiot's in trouble, great" - _his vision finally cleared, showing him a frantic Sonic covered in scratches narrowly avoiding a series of lightning fast slashes being chained together in a fluid dance of grace and danger. Another scratch added to the many already adorning his face, chest, arms and legs. He took aim at the panther - "the elbow should be enough" - and fired.

Seeing a gun in Shadow's hand was always reassuring, depending on whose team he happened to be on, and the sound of gunfire actually managed to give Sonic a glimmer of hope during his frenzied routine of dodge the dangerous sword. Shadow almost never missed a shot - Rouge just never misses, ever -. Then the crazy black sword slashed to the side and deflected the bullet right back towards the black and red hedgehog that simply fired another shot to cancel out the reflected one. The one little distraction was all sonic needed to zip back next to his companion, breathing heavily and feeling a little sleepy from all of the shallow wounds oozing his life out of them "what I wouldn't give for a chaos emerald" he gasped, not even daring to take his eyes off of the man stalking towards them.

"Guess I get to go after all, huh" Shadow murmured. Checking the chamber of his firearm and wincing. _"Damn, I chose the six shot, how careless"_ he chided himself. Hover shoes flaring to life, he announced "I'll show you the real way to fight a swordsman" and took off.

"**Like lambs to the slaughter**" the warrior remarked, preparing to cut down the fool.

Bang, Bang, Bang

Three swift slashes redirected the first two bullets and sent the third back towards the ebony marksman, who had no trouble avoiding it. Not slowing down in the least. Before he could correct his stance, Shadow was upon him, one hand grasping the hilt of the blade while the other pressed against his forehead in less than a second. His fingertips brushed the blade's hilt. Suddenly, he knew pain.

The embodiment of the soul, forged as a weapons, hundreds upon thousands of them. Their chosen masters. A power struggle, sides chosen. War. None left standing, remnants remaining within. Sealing, enshrinement, a mishap…. Power.

Shadow staggered under the onslaught of - _'visions, memories?'_ - confusing sights, falling to his hands and knees as well as dropping the gun in the process. Fortunately, the panther was going through his own state of shock. Staring at his empty hands, devoid of both Oblivion & it's sheath.

"**How can this be!**" he roared. "**A mere hedgehog cannot be the wielder of Oblivion, I Am Oblivion!**" he stated, rushing towards Shadow as he shakily made it to his feet. "**Die!**" he commanded, leaping into the air, sending bolts of ebony lightning towards him.

Helpless and still disoriented, Shadow did all he could to protect himself against the lightning approaching overhead, too fast to avoid, he outstretched his hands and gathered his chaos energy into the palms of his hands in an attempt to nullify the impending attack. A faint, flat circle of pale yellow appeared in front of him, sparks shooting off of the edges he shouted "Chaos Shield!" the two energies met, an explosion erupted, debris and smoke covering the area where Shadow stood.

Even while plastered to the wall, Ivo couldn't be more impressed with the skills he'd seen displayed by the three fighters. Impressed because, after his 'gifts from the gods' following the match was relatively easy, as if he were watching a few normal people duke it out, rather than a mystical being enhanced by - his own pride and joy - Metal Sonic, engaged in combat with two high speed hedgehogs. He wasn't so much impressed with them, much, but more so in the enhancements that he'd been discovering in himself, much research would have to be put into this…. _'After I get out of this war zone' _Robotnik vowed.

Sonic wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was worried about Shadow, the two had grown close - no matter how many times the black hedgehog denied it - and seeing his eyes go blank for that split second before he fell to the ground was rather unnerving. "He can't lose" the blue hedgehog mumbled, the worry clouding his thoughts, he was rooted to the spot, forced to watch as their foe leaped into the air then stopped, as if he was standing on solid ground now, no floating at all. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the dark lightning leap towards his shaky friend's barrier. The ensuing explosion forced him to breathe again, his feet sped him into the smoke where Shadow was last seen, hoping to find him perfectly fine, alive, breathing. He saw a silhouette, raced towards it & stopped in his tracks, the worry now replaced with confusion.

Shadow stood tall, not questioning the sheath sash now strapped across his shoulder and waist, but staring in wonder at the black blade that had appeared in his hand - moments before the attack tore through his shield - and absorbed the deadly blast, leaving no trace, other than the intense strain Shadow went through holding the blade in place, one hand clenched onto the hilt while the other held the flat side, keeping it in position as the stone beneath his feet erupted from the overwhelming force, throwing dust all around him. The weapon hummed, in anticipation, with power? '_This blade is very….unique, lifelike almost_' shadow mused.

'**Why would I not be?**' an eerily familiar voice asked, resounding through his mind.

Shadow was jolted from his findings by Sonic, when he placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder, eyes locked onto the other Oblivion standing above them.

On air.

"What the-"

"That's exactly what I was thinking" Sonic interrupted, still glaring at the panther.

"**I refuse to believe that some inexperienced, child**" he spat "**could injure me in battle, while another is dark enough to be chosen as the next wielder of Oblivion, more so than myself, Oblivion!**" he roared, as shadows coalesced in the palm of his hand, the form of a long, thin curved saber now evident, he took hold of the hilt with both hands, then vanished.

"Where'd he go?"

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Stop shouting!"

_'__**Focus, you whelp!**__' _the voice commanded Shadow.

Shadow turned around and brought his blade up, just in time to stop the shadowy saber from decapitating him, but jarring his arms and pushing him off balance, leaving him open for a much stronger slice.

"Sonic Wind!" had Sonic not sent a gust of sharpened energy at the master swordsman, forcing him to jump backwards to avoid the wave, giving Shadow a few precious moments to right himself.

Oblivion struck at Shadow again and again, forcing the dark hero to continue frantically dodging thrusts and slashes aimed at him, unable to escape and knowing that attempting to parry would only make matters worse. Deciding to take the offensive, he disappeared in a flash of green light, Sonic backpedaled toward the wall, anticipating Shadow's next move and leaving the panther enough time to raise his arm over his face, before being engulfed by a hail of thin shimmering yellow needles from above.

Abruptly, the shower stops, dust and sparks of residual chaos energy obscure the panther's form. In the air, breathing heavily, Shadow hovers above the destruction, jet shoes blasting flames to keep him airborne, arms outstretched towards his target as leftover sparks of yellow chaos dance across his fingers before dying out. He reaches to his side and unsheathes Oblivion, strapped to the back of his waist.

The smokescreen clears. A dome of dark energy riddled with holes is seen. Hairline cracks begin to branch off from the small holes and connect to each other, the sound of shattering glass is heard then the dome fades away, as if it was never there, revealing an annoyed Oblivion, sword gone, arms crossed and body covered in small bloody scratches.

"**I will admit, I am impressed**" he growled. "**You've managed to draw blood and break through a B-Class barrier.**"

Sonic, knowing the battle wouldn't end so easily, began forming a Sonic Hammer the second Oblivion started talking _'All villains have to showboat, it's a requirement' _he told himself, the attack almost completed.

Catching Sonic's intentions, Shadow dove towards the awaiting warrior, leaving a streak of flames in his wake. He swung the sword at Oblivion's face, but the panther caught his arms in mid swing, halting his movement as the momentum from Shadow's descent created a gust of air that rushed over the two of them.

"**You swing the sword around as if it was a stick, you could hardly even be called a novice**" he scoffed, ebony sparks manifesting at the end of his fingertips, Shadow's arms still in the crushing grip. "**You're a fool for believing that you could defeat me, now pay the pri-**"

Sonic made his move, driving the swirling globe of energy into the unsuspecting villain's side with a shout of "Eat it!"

Oblivion was sent spiraling, releasing Shadow, puncturing a hole into a wall and being covered by large pieces of debris.

"Maaaan, he has to be finished after that" Sonic groaned. Noticing Shadow, rubbing his wrists and looking around, he asked "How're you holding up, Shads?"

"The doctor has gotten away, again" he grumbled.

"Forget Eggman!" he exclaimed, giving a pointed look at his newest weapon "look at the badass sword you got!... I want one" he mumbled the last part.

"Yeah, we have more important things to worry about, at the moment…."

"Oh, like how everyone else is gonna find us?"

"That sounds about right" Shadow sighed.

"I guess we're all set then" Tails added to the conversation.

"No, we still have to find a way ou-" he stared at Tails - who waved back - in shock.

"Hey guys, we found another entrance and caught Eggman creeping out of it, he's tied up like a…." noticing their wounds "What happened to you two?"

"It's a long story, kid, a long story" Shadow replied.

Chunks of stone began falling from the ceiling and walls, one piece the size of a pebble bounced off of the dazed hedgehog's head, snapping him out of his stupor.

"You guys can tell me about it later, let's get out of here!" Tails shouted.

Sonic grabbed his surrogate sibling's hand and, while dodging falling bits of stone, sped through the door, right behind Shadow. Racing upwards they burst through the trapdoor in a matter of seconds, the stairs promptly collapsed moments after the three escaped. Lightheaded and fatigued - the product of running while covered in steadily bleeding cuts - Sonic let go of Tails and collapsed next to an equally exhausted Shadow.

Rolling his now sore shoulder - while grumbling about possible dislocations and giving people warnings - Tails looked around for the other half of their group. "That's strange" he murmured, shoulder forgotten "those three were right here, waiting by the door when I left."

"What's wrong, Miles?" Shadow groaned, wearily rising from his position on the rocky ground near Sonic, still haphazardly sprawled amongst the dirt.

Heading towards the tree line, still searching for any sign of their friends, he responded "The gang isn't at our meeting spot, right at the edge of those trees."

"Maybe they just went a little further back?" Sonic offered, not moving from his spot, flat on his back.

"That's a possibility" he replied. Then added "It's what I'm hoping for, actually."

"Hoping?" Shadow queried.

"If they're far enough away from these ruins, maybe their communicators are working."

"That wouldn't matter" Shadow deadpanned.

"Why not?"

"Yours is still being interfered with by the ruins, bud" Sonic chimed

"….Oh" he responded, sheepishly.

"That's not like you, acting so hastily" Shadow observed, now actively searching as well.

"Yeah, usually we have to stop you from thinking too much about something" Sonic joked.

"Heh" the kit blushed, embarrassed "I guess I'm just a bit worri-"

"Shit!" Shadow erupted, alerting the other two "Get over here, now!" and then "Rouge!" before dashing deeper into the layer of trees.

"That doesn't sound good" Sonic commented, scrambling to his feet and completely passing by Tails as they chased after Shadow.

Tails noticed the destruction first as Sonic merely focused on catching up to Shadow. Several trees were scorched and splintered, while some were outright pulled from the ground or had multitudes of thin slashes covering them. _'Knuckles and Rouge's handiwork I presume, no one else can do that to a fully grown tree' _he reasoned. As he ran further into the forest the fallen trees and scorch marks increased in number, unearthed soil and stray branches littered the ground. _'What is this, a war zone?'_

Eventually, he caught up to the two Hedgehogs, to find Shadow kneeling over a scorched, bruised and unconscious Rouge laying on the ground as he checked her for any other injuries, the steady rise and fall of her chest the only indication that the woman was even alive. Not too far away, Sonic seemed to be doing the same with Knuckles, whose injuries were much easier to spot, what with jagged shards of bark being none too difficult to spot. Knuckles looked as if he'd been thrown through a tree. More like multiple trees.

"What happened here, what could even do something like this to Knuckles?" Sonic exclaimed.

"Your guess is as good as mine, and Omega isn't here, he has a heal unit installed but he may be injured too" Shadow replied, his mood darkening.

"This isn't good" Tails observed "I left my things up here, but they're missing!" he wailed.

"The day just keeps getting better, eh Shads?" Sonic dryly commented.

"Yeah, I also don't think I have enough stamina to get myself to the Station Square outskirts, let alone all of us to the GUN facilities. And, I dropped the Chaos Emerald" he groaned.

"Meh" Sonic shrugged "we'll just have to run there."

"Oh please" Shadow scoffed, noticing Sonic's swaying body. "You can barely stand, let alone run while carrying a person" a pause "and I have no clue as to how we'll get Omega anywhere if he's unresponsive" he sighed.

"Someone's going to have to get out of this forest, find a signal and contact GUN to retrieve us…. With rescue helicopters, the supersonic kind, to make sure we don't bleed out and die as well as check these two over here for any internal injuries."

"Wait a minute" Tails perked up, catching on "that leaves me as the only one able bodied enough to do any of this!"

"Yep, you'd better hurry little buddy, I already feel cold all over" Sonic added.

"I'm off. Don't die guys!" Tails screeched, staring up his two namesakes. He soared into, then over, the canopy of trees, desperate to locate a signal as he moved further and further away from the group.

"He's so intelligent, yet so naïve" Shadow observed.

"He is still a kid, you know, give my little bro a break" Sonic reminded him. "Anywho, what's the plan, seeing as how you had to send Tails away….?" he asked, having already guessed that Shadow had something serious - and potentially dangerous - in mind.

Drawing his sword, Shadow replied "This."


	4. Worth

Ok, here's chapter 4.

Reviews go a long way toward stroking my shameful ego.

Consructive critcism would also be nice.

* * *

'_**So, you've decided to speak with me. I'm also glad to see that you are alive**__' _the voice in Shadow's mind rumbled.

'_That's nice, now let's cut to the chase' _Shadow demanded. _'What are you?'_

'_**Narrow minded, mortal**__' _the voice seemed to chuckle. _'__**I have been many things. A warrior, a savior, a murderer, a peacekeeper, destroyer, vengeful spirit, amalgam of rage, master, student, brother and even a friend. But more importantly, you should've asked-'**_

'_Who are you?'_

'_**Much better, you're learning already**__' _the voice remarked, sounding pleased. _'__**You may call me Oblivion, though I'm sure you've guessed that much by now' **_it practically purred.

'_Yes, I did. But that's beside the point' Shadow snapped. _'I have some questions to ask, and you will answ-'

'_**Fool**__!' _Oblivion guffawed. '_**You seem to not realize that I am the one in a position of dominance, here!**_'

Angered at the interruption and bold statement, Shadow roared '_What are you talking abou-!'_

'_**You seek power, your allies are injured, you do not have the strength required to bring them to safety so you've come to me, wondering if I can assist you in some way, obviously**__' _it assessed, leaving Shadow flabbergasted at its accuracy.

Placated with the knowledge that this, entity, and he were on the same page, he asked '_well, can you?'_

'_**Child, it is not a matter of if I can, but rather, if I will**_'

'_And why won't you!'_

'_**I merely wish to know if you are truly worthy**_'

'_Worthy?_' he echoed'_then why was I able to wield this sword in the first place!'_

'_**You are one of the millions, no, hundreds of millions of people, with a strong heart and mind, capable of speaking to one of my kind and coincidentally hold our sealed forms**_, _**that is all**_'

'_Then, what's the problem?_'

'_**Show me that you are one of the select few thousands, capable of acquiring your hidden potential, of harnessing my true power!**_' it bellowed.

'_Hmmph, what do I have to do, answer some questions or something?" he scoffed "I accept your little challenge."_

'_**You ignorant fool, overconfidence in your abilities will lead to your death, I hope for your sake, that you are the victor, otherwise, death will be your reward**__.'_

With this statement still ringing in his ears, Shadow found himself in a world of endless swords, surrounded in the distance by massive ethereal gears in the distance, eternally grinding. The cloudy crimson sky only serving to highlight the barren field of hardened, flattened dirt, casting flecks of red shadow onto the blades embedded into the ground, as if bright scarlet blood ran down them, proving that they had served their purpose, to take lives.

Shadow couldn't speak, rendered speechless by the grandeur of the place he had been taken to.

'_**Welcome to the proving grounds boy, or rather, the warrior's yard**_' Oblivion's voice announced, startling Shadow from his reverie. Looking towards where the voice had come from, Shadow noticed a stranger covered from head to toe in a loose fitting hooded black cloak.

'_How did I get here?_' he demanded.

'_**Whatever do you mean?**_' the figure mocked. '_**Your actual body has yet to move so much as a muscle.**_'

'_How is that even possible?_' he muttered, then shouted '_Don't toy with me!_' Just now noticing that his blade and sheath were not with him, he understood '_ah, this is still, my mind?_' he asked.

'_**Very good!**_' the cloaked one cheered. '_**Now I won't need to perform this test wearing a stupid hood**_' Oblivion commented, throwing off the cloak and allowing a nonexistent breeze to pull it away as Shadow stared at the newest occupant of his mind.

'_Surprised?_' Oblivion asked, disappointed. '_And you were doing so well too_' he pouted.

'Mephiles!' the dark hero roared, grabbing the sword closest to him - an ebony colored falchion with scarlet honeycomb patterns adorning the entirety of the blade - before charging towards the demon, fury burning in his crimson eyes.

Shocked, the manipulator of time held his hands out in front of him, blades of his own - a silver katana and an obsidian dagger held in the reverse grip - simply materializing in the palms of his hands. '_**Perhaps, imitating this form from you**__r __**mem**__ories was not the correct choice?_' he mused.

'Die!' he screamed, swinging the blade at his apparently revived nemesis.

Oblivion easily deflected the strike and sent Shadow flying several feet backwards with a well placed kick, managing to disarm and disorient the hedgehog in one fluid motion. '_Come now, I have to explain the rules of the test first_' he chided.

Shadow recovered from his flight and landed on his feet, pulled another blade - with a floral shaped hilt and jagged edged katana length blade - from the ground and charged, only to see that Mephiles had vanished. I in his place was, himself, wielding the same silver and black weapons instead.

'_Are you ready to hear me out now?_' Oblivion asked with a smirk, one that didn't quite belong on Shadow's face. And then he noticed the eyes. Where there should have been startling garnet, the eyes of this copy were a deep soulless black, no pupil or iris or sclera could be distinguished from the abyssal darkness of these eyes, speaking volumes of the difference in these two Shadows.

'_I suppose, you can do a bit of explaining_' Shadow conceded, lowering his sword but not even thinking of letting it go.

'_This' _he indicated the strange realm they were in '_is where you will be tested, to see if you can handle my power' _he proclaimed.

'_I understand, but, what's with all of these blades?'_

_'Oh, I forgot!' _Oblivion scolded himself '_This' he indicated the entirety of their location in a broad sweeping gesture 'is my warrior's yard, a place where I can reproduce any weapon that I've ever seen.'_

_'Why is it in my head then?' _

_'Since we sort of share a consciousness, you have the skill too' _a pause '_actually, that is what your test will be' _he decided, head nodding in agreement.

'_…. Wha?_' Shadow offered, confused.

With a sigh, Oblivion dropped the two weapons in his grasp to the ground, held a hand up in the air and had the same exact sword in Shadow's grip appear, an flawless copy. '_That, the requirement for being able to release my unsealed power_' he replied.

'_How do you expect me to do something like that?_' Shadow deadpanned.

'_It's simple, really_' the doppelganger airily replied. '_Just imagine your weapon fitting into the palm of your hand, the texture, the weight, the very materials that make it up. This is the power of my Warrior's Yard'_ he advised, facial expression evolving into one of predatory anticipation. '_Let us see if my copies are still any good' _he mused, stalking towards Shadow.

Shadow struck first, only to be blocked just as easily, again and again, strike after strike before Oblivion sent his replica crashing against the original katana with a staggering amount of power, shattering both blades and sending Shadow skidding along the ground as flying shards cut his hands and arms.

Numbed and gasping for breath, Shadow dropped the now useless hilt as he clumsily staggered to his feet, unable to use his arms for the moment. However, he rushed to meet the copy, arms dangling behind him until he suddenly vanished in a flash of green light.

Composed, Oblivion snatched Shadow's foot right out of the sky as it aimed for his side and tossed him back to the ground, a strangled grunt forced from his throat as he lay there on his back, pain coursing through his body.

'_Come now, surely you can't be so weak inside of your own mind_?' Oblivion jeered now standing over the downed hedgehog. By the time he noticed the scarlet tint covering Shadow's body and the triumphant grin on his face, he had already sprung his trap.

'_CHAOS! BLAST!' _A crimson wave of energy erupted from Shadow's body, destroying everything in a four meter radius, leaving Shadow standing in a small crater, still steaming from the sudden burst of raw chaos.

'_Well, that is rather surprising, who'd think that you knew a few words of power?_' Oblivion murmured from behind at the edge of the crater, pleased at the display of destructive power. 'However' he stated, loud enough to make shadow whirl around, the façade of weakness now gone 'your goal is to perform the blade manifestation skill, as I've shown you' he instructed, forming yet another blade - a thin rapier - in his hand _' or do you require another explanation?' _ he boasted, the inappropriate feral grin back on the duplicate Shadow's face.

'_What do you mean by "Words of Power" Oblivion?' _Shadow asked.

'_You may not call me by name until you've proven yourself_' he replied '_now, on your guard' came the warning. '__**Dark: Pulse**_'

Shadow was not at all prepared for the thin halo of dark light that extend outwards from Oblivion's torso, so he did what his instincts told him and jumped into the air, completely avoiding the simple attack, watching it harmlessly dissipate until a foot collided with the back of his skull, launching him into the ground, glaring at the lookalike standing in the air as he struggled to his feet once more.

'_So, what else can you do?_' he goaded the Ultimate Life Form.

Grinding his teeth together, Shadow silently began to form a chaos spear in one of his hands and then abruptly stopped, having felt a foreign energy source mix in with the raw chaos, disrupting the attack. Frustrated, he began again, but was unable to separate the two energies and thus, no chaos spears.

Noticing the frustration on Shadow's face, Oblivion understood, having gone through a similar dilemma, a long time ago. _'So you can feel it now_' he stated.

'_Feel what?_' Shadow demanded, confused.

'Why, _the aether of course_.' Seeing the bewildered look on Shadow's face, he siighed '_the basis of my power, you will need to learn how to channel it, if I am to lend you any of my strength_.'

'_And, the fastest way to teach me how to use…. Aether, is through this test of yours?_' Shadow surmised.

'_If only it were so simple_' the copy added, shifting into the form of Mario - startling Shadow, because those eyes did not belong on anyone of this world - for a split second, before choosing the outward appearance of Mephiles once more '_It is the only way_' and floated towards the battered hedgehog, forming a simple iron straight sword, devoid of any guard and accentuated by the menacing hook at the tip. Landing on the ground in front of Shadow with barely a sound, the two looked each other in the eyes and then the Mephiles lookalike struck.

Taken by surprise, the sword hit, the crisscrossing afterimages of a myriad of slashes already fading, leaving shadow confused as he turned to look at his opponent after simply materialized behind him, his back turned. A moment later, pain blossomed all along his torso, bringing him to his knees as he clutched his chest, gasping for breath.

'_For all of that speed, you're still rather slow_' Oblivion observed, shifting into an image of Sonic, not bothering to look at the hedgehog.

Growing angry at being looked down on - by that idiot/rival, no less! -, Shadow attempted another Chaos Spear, not caring about the opposing energies, he surged to his feet shouting '_Chaos Spear!_' releasing a few pitiful sparks that died moments afterwards, but more importantly, shards of various metals were mixed with the sparks and managed to shower Oblivion in the conjured debris, one going so far as to draw a paper thin cut along his cheek.

Oblivion looked just as shocked as Shadow, neither saying a word until the former heaved a sigh.

'_I guess that can be considered a pass for now_' he shrugged.

'_Huh?_' Shadow offered, then promptly collapsed, drained of all energy.

* * *

"Shadow?" Sonic asked, noticing the sword in his - tentative - friend's hand change into some sort of large, sinister key for a moment, and then change back right before Shadow crumpled to the ground with a groan. Confused, he examined the other hedgehog, noticing the sweat and heavy breathing afflicting him. '_Fine one second and exhausted the next?_' "What just happened?" Sonic thought aloud. Lightly slapping his face, Sonic waited for a reaction, calling his name every so often, worried. Preparing to slap him again, his arm was caught in Shadow's grip.

"I'm fine, you idiot" he replied through a swollen cheek. "How long did it take for me to…. Come back?" he asked, letting go of Sonic's arm.

"Gone?" Sonic echoed. "You mean, right after you acted all cool with the "I'll do this" quote?" he asked, to which shadow nodded. "Oh, three seconds, I guess, then you collapsed right after for maybe ten more seconds, and now, here you are" he finished.

"That's all the time I took, could've sworn it was at least an hour or something" he noted, muttering the last part to himself.

"Nope, you pretty much blinked and then fainted" Sonic snickered, receiving a growl from the ebony hedgehog.

Leaning against a tree to help him sit up, he icily replied "I don't faint."

"Sure you do."

"I. Do. Not."

"Whatever you say" Sonic rebuffed, ignoring the venom laced in that last statement.

"I hope Tails finds helps, soon" Shadow offered.

"You and me both, man. You and me both."

* * *

"This is bad, this is really really bad" Tails repeated, flying further and further away from the ruins and the camp, yet still unable to get any sort of signal. '_That isn't right_' he observed, alighting onto a tree branch to further inspect his wrist communicator.

"These are connected to dozens of satellites" he thought aloud "there should be no reason I can't get any signal now that I'm so far away from whatever was interfering, unless." Taking off his communicator, he flipped it around and removed the bottom casing, stifling a curse at his discovery. "Dang, that really was a burst of high pressure" he stated, recalling the inability of he and his friends' to move, shortly after discovering the ruins. "It was strong enough to shatter the crystal and internal circuits. Everyone else's must be ruined too" he sighed.

'_We have no means of communication until I get back to my lab in order to fix this, not good at all_' he mused, crestfallen. Jumping to the ground, he decided to walk back to camp, his tails tired after the frantic search for a communications link.

A few minutes later, something seemed to lightly pull at Tails' mind or body, urging him to alter his direction. Allowing the feeling to lead him on, the boy came across Omega's unresponsive body, impaled into the base of a tree. His feet sticking out of one side while his face was on the other, his arms and torso held immobile in the center of the tree. The sight would've been comical, had tails not seen his green knapsack sitting neatly in front of the robot, a leather bound book resting atop the bag, a burning ember - the symbol of fire - etched into the front of the book, the roman numeral one under it.

'_Well, that isn't my book_' he concluded, rushing to assist his mechanical friend. "Omega, power on" he commanded.

No reaction.

'_It was worth a shot_.'

Groaning, he spoke aloud "maan, this sucks, in order to get at Omega's control panel, I need access to his torso." Eying the tree his friend had managed to lodge into, he sighed again _'maybe, I can just burn through it_' he thought. "It's worth a shot" he resolved, holding his hand out in front of him, fingers splayed, then muttered "Fox Fire" causing a single blue ember of fire to manifest on each of the tips of his fingers, creating five in all. Holding his wrist in his other hand, he took aim at a portion of the tree directly over Omega and sharply uttered "Release!" launching all five bolts of flame at the plant, scorching the bark clean off of the tree where they hit '_that's all_?' he thought, raising an eyebrow at the strength of the tree, watching a slowly dying piece of charcoal bounce off of Omega's head and onto the book…. Then vanish as the book flared a bright red before returning to its dull brownish color.

Tails stared at the book for a moment, puzzled. Omega penetrated the confusion by returning to life as well and stating "I am stuck, Tails, our enemy, Doctor Eggman, has left a tome with instructions on how to free me, I suggest moving with haste" he relayed, managing to sound annoyed, even with his robotic tone.

"Tome?" he echoed, looking at the leather bound book, the burning ember from before now resembling a completely different object as he walked closer to retrieve it and his knapsack. Thinking better of it, he decided to sit at the base of the tree and examine the book more closely '_this isn't an ember at all, it's a hand of sorts_' he discovered, then checking the spine for some sort of title '_firebolt?_' he gleaned.

"Tails" Omega started. "Do you know the status of our comrades?" he asked, managing to sound worried.

"Sonic and Shadow are pretty beat up, though Shadow did get a cool new sword" he began "but Rouge and Knuckles were unconscious when we showed up, what happened?" he asked the robot.

Omega lay silent for a moment, before starting with "I am ashamed to say" another pause "we were defeated by Eggman" then added "single handedly."

"What!" Tails shouted, shock and disbelief etched onto his features "That's impossible" he breathed out. "The three of you not only had him outnumbered and tied up, plus, he's Eggman!" he reasoned.

"He not only broke through the ropes using naught but brute strength" Omega continued. "He then overpowered the three of us with lightning based abilities and sheer power" he stated, almost dejectedly.

"It's alright Omega" Tails consoled the automaton, patting its head, thinking '_Lightning?_' and_ 'overpowered all three!_' while staring at the book in his lap, wondering why Eggman would leave any form of assistance, especially for his enemies '_it has to be a trap_' the boy reasoned, but opened it anyway, flinching as a small piece of paper fluttered out of the pages and landed in front of him.

"Do not demean me, Tails" Omega warned, growing frustrated at being pet as the child clung to his face, cowering from a piece of a paper. "Release me, now."

"Oh, sorry Omega" Tails apologized, chuckling nervously as he removed himself from omega and retrieved the slip of paper. Flipping it over, he read the paper aloud, for Omega's benefit.

"Dear Tails, I do believe that you will be the first to discover this little book I've left. Treat it with care, for awesome power is contained within these pages and I figured you would be able to read its pages, seeing as fire isn't my element. To ensure that you read this tome of the fire mage, I've left a bit of motivation for you in the form of Omega. I do believe that he is very much stuck in this tree, but the first incantation "Firebolt" should be more than enough to burn it down if the force of the attack doesn't simply shatter it. I look forward to our next meeting, you'll progress quite nicely. Hopefully. Yours truly, Ivo Robotnik." Noticing a small scrawl at the edge of the paper, he read it aloud as well "P.S. Don't let anyone else know of this book, the mages guild wouldn't appreciate it, I'd assume." Spotting another, he read it as well "P.P.S. All hail the Eggman Empire!"

Omega beeped in disgust, struggling once more to release himself from his wooden prison, blowing a gasket as a result. "Error!" he shouted "hip socket B has been shattered, entering recovery mode" then promptly shut down.

"Omega?" Tails sighed, knowing he wouldn't get any response for a while. "Well, I guess I better get started on this thing" he announced opening the tome. "Let's see…. Firebolt…. Sounds cool enough…."

* * *

"So…." Sonic hazarded, attempting to engage his companion in conversation "Up for some tic tac toe, rock paper scissors, I spy, truth or dare or something?" he asked.

Shadow simply ignored him.

"Oh, I see" Sonic smirked "Scared of losing, I get it."

"You take that back" Shadow growled.

"Or what?" Sonic challenged.

Shadow lunged at the blue hedgehog.

* * *

"OK…. One more…. Shot" Tails panted. Covered with patches of soot and smelling of smoke and singed fur. He looked at the opened book in his left hand while raising his right to point at the tree Omega was still stuck. The tree itself was covered in scorch marks, and bits of the tree looked as if it had been scooped off with a hot spoon, as evidenced by the three smoking gouges on the edges of the tree.

Tails stared at a specific page in his book, eyes narrowed in concentration as his hand began to slowly clench into a fist, a pale orange glow manifesting in the center. Abruptly, his eyes widened and his hand stayed in its half fisted position, the orange glow still there. He focused on the glow for a moment and suddenly it intensified into a deep red-orange, the color of a roaring flame. Without wasting a moment, his hand shot out towards the tree, releasing the glowing orb of energy in an instant.

It streaked out of his hand -leaving a trail of orange in it's wake- as the firebolt smashed into the side of the tree, effortlessly plowing through the bark and into the tree itself, shattering that section of the tree in an explosion of heat and scorched splinters.

Tails stared at the gaping Omega sized hole in the poor tree, arm still outstretched, mouth noiselessly opening and closing in shock.

Roused from the impact, Omega started back up. "What is the current situ-" he stopped abruptly. "Scanning" he announced. "I see, good work tails" he praised as he started rotating his now movable arm before changing it into a flamethrower and promptly setting the tree -and himself, inadvertently or purposely- on fire.

Taken out of his stupor, the young fox rushed to the robot's aid but was unable to get any closer, due to the intense heat of the fire. "Omega!" he shouted, desperate to hear a reply.

"Do not worry tails. My armor plating may withstand multiple times this level of heat. The fire will weaken the structure of this…. Prison, in order for me to release myself as you rest" Omega called from within the flames, attempting to reassure the boy.

"I guess you know what you're doing" Tails hesitated, scooting away from the single burning tree. "I guess I'll wait, then" he sighed, sitting down and placing the book inside of his knapsack. '_I think it'll be fine if I let Sonic know about this_' he ruminated.

* * *

Sprawled on their backs in the grass as they attempted to catch their breath, Sonic and Shadow agreed to a truce -at least until their bodies weren't quite so sore- for the time being, opting to recover their strength and watch over the still unconscious Rouge & Knuckles while Tails searched for a means of transportation.

"When are these two gonna wake up?" Sonic thought aloud.

"Whatever happened, it must have been pretty intense" Shadow speculated. "Thankfully, they don't seem to be in any immediate danger, but we need Omega here, just to make sure."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Tails must've found him or something. It's probably why he's taking so long to get back" Sonic shrugged -even though Shadow couldn't see him- in the grass.

"I guess it's better to be optimistic for the mo-" a breeze picked up, the smell of smoke wafted in as well, stinging the two hedgehogs' nostrils.

"You smelled it too" Sonic stated, whispering.

"Yeah, but I don't see any smoke from a fire" Shadow replied, just as quietly.

"That means someone has to be close by, right?"

"We can't move the others around too much, but we also don't know if whoever's approaching is friend or foe…." Shadow trailed off.

"We'll have to set up an ambush, just in case" Sonic decided.

"Alright, we won't be able to do much in a fight, given the condition we're in though."

"We'll have to make do & hope for the best, is all" sonic supplied, as the two of them silently leapt into the tree cover.

* * *

"Hey, where'd Sonic and Shadow go?" Tails asked himself, as he and Omega walked into the clearing.

"Scanners indicate that the two have hidden themselves in separate trees, In order to overtake any unsuspecting enemies" Omega stated.

"Well, dang" Sonic cursed, dropping out of a tree right behind Tails, startling the child. "Those scanners of yours are pretty nifty" Sonic observed.

"Yes. Yes they are" Omega agreed.

"Uh, where's Shadow?" Tails asked, peering upwards into the trees in an attempt to spot their ebony companion.

"Right here" Shadow replied, - having dropped behind Tails only a few moments ago - startling the fox once more.

Sonic chuckled, watching his friend try to regain some of his composure. Then he smelled the smoke and singed fur rolling off of Omega and tails, noticing the sooty patches covering the small fox. "Busy day, Tails?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You don't know the half of it" the boy sighed.

"Omega. Status report. Make it brief" Shadow commanded.

"The doctor, Eggman, managed to singlehandedly defeat Myself, Knuckles and Rouge" was his succinct reply.

"Well damn" Shadow offered while Sonic whistled.

"Looks like egghead got an upgrade, I guess" Sonic added.

"Are your heal units and first aid equipment still in working condition?" Shadow asked.

"The heal units are in working order, although your injuries do not require the use of one. Where are Rouge and Knuckles?" he asked.

"Right over here" Sonic lead them to their still unconscious friends. "Hey, can you scan them, to, you know, see if everything's alright with 'em?" he asked the robot.

He obliged, wordlessly running a thin blue beam of light over the two unaware figures.

"Well?" Shadow prompted, anxious.

"No internal damage has been detected. Additional scans indicate that Brainwaves are normal as well." Omega listed off.

"So….?" Sonic prompted.

"They'll be fine, they're just sleeping, after having been knocked unconscious" Tails interpreted.

"Well, that's a nice bit of good news" Shadow breathed out in relief.

"Yep, now we've just gotta figure out how to get back" Sonic mused, looking at Omega appraisingly.

"Is there a problem, Sonic?"

"Omega!" Sonic started, inspiration having struck him. "Enter. Vehicle mode!"

All was silent.

Tails sighed and shook his head, disgraced.

Shadow smacked the blue hedgehog in the back of the head, because - it was fun - he deserved it.

"Alright" Sonic sighed, rubbing his sore head. "Let's pretend this never happened?" he offered.

"There isn't much to forget, you've always been stupid" Shadow, replied.

"And you've always been an asshole!" Sonic retorted, his finger in the other's face.

"You. Are an idiot" Shadow huffed, swatting the finger out of his face.

"You. Are a dick" Sonic mocked, crossing his arms.

"That was really clev-"

"For the LOVE of god, SHUT UP!" Rouge screeched, roused from her comatose state.

"Rouge? You're alright?" Shadow asked, ignoring Sonic.

"Other than the electrical burns-"

"And a wounded pride, courtesy of Eggman" Knuckles joined in.

"…. That too" Rouge allowed. "I'm feeling pretty chipper" she answered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

After a moment, Knuckles piped up. "I hurt."

"That's nice" Shadow replied offhandedly, checking Rouge over for any wounds he may have missed.

"Douche" Knuckles muttered as Tails and Sonic began to poke and prod him with their fingers and - in Sonic's case - feet. "Ouch! Ow. Please stop" he begged.

"You think you can walk?" Shadow asked Rouge while Omega rescanned her. "I don't know if moving you myself would make things any worse."

"I' couldn't get up if I wanted to, and trust me, I don't" she reassured him. "Just, be gentle?"

"I won't allow any harm to befa-"

"My god, just kiss her already, shads!" Sonic interjected, earning chuckles from Tails and knuckles, although the echidna winced in pain afterwards.

"Chaos. Spear."

* * *

After various acrobatics, many fallen trees and some intervention from Omega, Sonic and Shadow regained consciousness twenty minutes later. Grinning from ear to ear, Sonic could only say "and this is why we're best friends."

"I disown you" Shadow grumbled, refusing to look at the blue hedgehog.

"You didn't deny it!" Sonic chuckled as the two of them got to their feet and meticulously dusted themselves off, eerily mirroring each other's movements.

"If you two are finished being stupid" Rouge groaned from the floor - Knuckles yelping in the background as Tails attempted to move him - "We'd appreciate some help."

"We'd already be home if Shadow hadn't lost the Chaos Emerald" Sonic sulked.

"Stop crying about that, it's better off this way anyhow" Shadow rebuked.

Rouge cleared her throat, annoyed at their antics as Knuckles screeched in the background again.

"This mission just couldn't end any sooner" Rouge seethed. "I hate hospital visits.

End Flashback.

* * *

That'd been months ago. Rouge and Knuckles recovered in the hospital after two weeks. The Doctor had yet to resurface. Sonic and Tails went back to bumming around with the rest of their friends. Shadow had taken to arguing with Oblivion whenever the job gave him some alone time, hence the temporary apartment away from "Club Rouge" at the moment, despite Rouge's protests at losing her rent paying companion.

"Oblivion" Shadow called, walking into the kitchen, "manifest."

The sheathed sword in his hand shimmered, emerging from the sheath in a flash of ebony light.

A mirror image of Shadow - disregarding the pitch black eyes - stood before him, smirking.

"Must you always be so theatrical, Oblivion?" Shadow sighed.

"Yes, I do. Now make food and invite this ninja friend of yours, his shuriken will be very helpful. Mention them" he ordered.

"Don't tell me what to do" Shadow barked, waving the - now empty - white sheath threateningly. "I'll call Espio over in a bit."

"Excellent" Oblivion purred, causing Shadow to twitch.

"Please don't do that" Shadow asked. "Or at least not in my body…. Or the body of anyone I may know" he sighed in relief, noticing the smug look on his doppelganger's face recede.

"Fine, fine" Oblivion relented, facial expression back to neutral. "Eat plenty, you'll be doing practice swings with the gold sword today" he added offhandedly.

"That thing breaks every twelve minutes & its heavier than reason and logic dictates. As such, I refuse" Shadow deadpanned.

"Then make a better one, you could use the practice anyway."

"Sitting down for eight hours in order to meditate so that I can produce gold out of thin air was fun for the first twenty minutes, then I realized it was draining my chaos reserves at an alarming rate and passed out when it was over" Shadow growled. "Explaining this to Rouge, who now thinks that you're an actual person - and an alchemist, to boot - was not fun" he explained.

"Which is why you need to grow stronger, hence the gold sword" Oblivion reasoned.

"You're just a sadistic bastar-" his wrist communicator blared, Tails on the other end. He answered, the sound of shouts and explosions filled his ears. "Tails, what's going on!"

"Shadow, Eggman's attacking Angel Island, the Echidnas can't fend off all of these new badniks and Sonic hasn't come back!" the fox shouted.

"Tails! Slow down!" Shadow roared, drawing a confused glance from Oblivion. "Where do I have to be?"

"Come to the Master Emerald shrine! Knuckles, watch ou-" the connection ended.

"Well?" Obivion prompted.

Shadow grabbed a piece of toast and fastened the sheath to his waist. "Change back, it's time to put this training to some use."

"Don't get cocky" the lookalike warned, disappearing in another flash of black light, the sword now sheathed. _'You're just an untalented novice, at the moment.'_

Shadow smirked "this'll just be test of what skills I'm lacking, then" he replied. "Chaos Control."


	5. The Doctor's newest creations

To anyone actually reading this, I appologize for the delay.

I also appologize for the bit of potty mouthing that may be in here.

Also, really bad fight sequences. In my opinion, at least.

You've been warned.

* * *

Tails was not a happy camper.

He and Sonic had been hanging out with Knuckles at the Master Emerald shrine when Eggman's carrier ship appeared overhead and his newest creations descended upon the floating island.

At first glance, they seemed to be nothing more than smaller variants of the doctor's 'egg gunner' production line. They had the same hover units attached to their backs, a blue light attached to the chest where the heart would be on a person, jointed limbs and a flat domed head with a visor shaped optical emitting a soft blue light as well.

This is where the similarities ended.

Their feet were two-toed rather than three pronged, having wheels attached to the bottom of each 'toe' and a larger wheel protruding from the heel, a tube connected to the 'ankle' of each foot - currently folded against their legs - engaged as they landed, the large wheels at the ends landing on the ground with heavy thuds.

Interestingly enough, the robots had very well defined hands. Five shiny metallic silver fingers on each hand, chrome knuckles glinting as they flexed around a simple baton. Sparks danced from the silver implements every so often. The robots were only armed with a pair of stun rods - one in each hand - it would seem.

Tails had time to count the thirty six bots that arrived - as Knuckles and Sonic cursed - before the six-foot tall machines shot off at astonishing speeds all over the island.

"They're not going for the Master Emerald?" Tails wondered.

"They're headed for the villages!" Knuckles spat, growling as half a dozen of the robots sped towards their location as the rest fanned into the surrounding forest, towards the unsuspecting Echidna communities beyond them. "Sonic, stop those badniks and warn the other towns" Knuckles commanded, preparing for the fight.

"Will you and Tails be alright?" Sonic asked.

"Don't insult me" Knuckles huffed while the yellow fox nodded. "Now go!" he demanded as the first automaton reached them, catching the baton it swung at him, then frying the weapon and the machine holding it with a chant of "Thunder Arrow" and effortlessly tossed the hunk of now useless parts away. "That's one down already" he murmured.

* * *

Sonic raced into the forest, easily catching up to a group of the machines, five in total. Two of them moved to intercept the hedgehog, closing in on both of his sides, they swung at the speed demon's head.

Sonic somersaulted into the air to avoid the attacks, smashing a heel into both robot's faces, effectively destroying their heads and taking them out of the fight as they collapsed to the ground, unresponsive.

The other three changed formation and charged towards the blue hedgehog. Only to have their legs cleanly removed from the rest of their bodies with a wave of his hand and the utterance of "Sonic Wind", rendering them relatively useless until he stomped each of the downed bots' faces in, destroying them.

"Heh, didn't stand a chance" Sonic chuckled, racing off to stop the remainder of Eggman's invading robots. '_If the Echidna tribes don't mess em up before I can' _he mused.

* * *

Knuckles sidestepped another swing from the fifth robot then lunged out with a swift jab that it nimbly avoided. Apparently the robots were of the 'learning' variety, seeing as how they wouldn't let him get his hands on one of their batons. Another swing from the robot, he sidestepped again and ducked under a sudden swing from the other baton. They were learning very quickly.

Tails had managed to blast both arms off of the fourth robot with a few well timed fire bolts, but this made it even harder to hit when it suddenly decided to start pulling off acrobatic spins and kicks. Needless to say, Tails had his own problem to deal with for the moment.

Seeing how things were going, the echidna changed tactics. Muttering "Lightning Arrow" he hurled the bolt of energy towards the robot confronting him, it dodged. A satisfying explosion was heard as the attack destroyed the armless machine hindering Tails, who repaid the favor by taking the head off of the bot facing off with Knuckles.

"That's over and done with" Tails sighed, sitting down to catch his breath.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" Knuckles grunted, looking up towards the floating carrier still hovering over the island.

As if to prove the guardian right, a hatch opened up at the bottom of the craft, dropping twenty more of the machines towards the island.

Capitalizing on their limited vulnerability, Tails stood and began firing more bolts at the descending robots while Knuckles drew from the Mater Emerald nearby and did the same with his Thunder Arrows.

Twenty was decreased to twelve by the time the invaders landed, then nine when they came into striking distance.

"This is a bit more of a challenge" Knuckles groaned, dancing around the robots and frustrated at only being able to safely get a glancing blow off of one every so often.

"We need backup!" Tails cried, frantically dodging the attacks being rained down.

* * *

Sonic came upon the second group of five speeding robots approximately three minutes after disposing of the first group.

Predictably, two of the five broke off from the group in an attempt to stop him, swinging for his face with their batons.

Unpredictably, as Sonic somersaulted into the air, the robot to his left avoided his incoming heel while the one on his right was still too slow to escape destruction and spun In a semi-circle to try and catch his legs with the other baton as he landed.

In an attempt to parry the attack, Sonic kicked it, shattering the baton and destroying the robots hand as well as part of its arm. Sonic received a nasty shock for his efforts though, as he felt the voltage course through his leg and travel through the rest of his body, sending him skidding a few feet along the grass, body tingling and leg numbed as curls of smoke rolled off of his body while he tried to get up.

The remaining three robots turned around to engage the injured hedgehog as the one-armed bot circled to flank him. "Sonic Wind!" the blue hedgehog called, sending a gust of sharpened energy towards the advancing group. Nimbly, they leapt over the attack to converge upon him. Quick reflexes, two "Sonic Hammer!"s and a lucky collision left a weary Sonic alone with four more heaps of destroyed robot.

"That, didn't go quite so well" Sonic grunted, ignoring his body's protests as he tried to get his leg to respond.

No such luck.

Checking his communicator to try and reach Tails or Knuckles, he came to an unpleasant conclusion. "It broke?" the azure hero wailed.

* * *

"I can't reach Sonic!" Tails yelled to his companion, vaulting over a robot at the same time.

"Deep! Impact!" Knuckles shouted, reeling back and punching the air directly in front of him with all of his might, forcing an explosion and sending the six robots in front of him flying a few meters away. Breathing a little heavily, he replies "Then call the others! I can hold these bots off for a bit!" punching his fists in preparation as five of the machines he sent soaring speed back towards him, the sixth one had sustained too much damage and collapsed during the explosive echidna-manufactured flight. Eight robots remaining.

"Already on it!" Tails called, connecting to Shadow's communicator. Taking flight, the ebony hedgehog answered his communicator just as Knuckles dove at one of the bots making a grab for the yellow fox, bellowing mightily. The machine struggled valiantly, but one of the other machines took a swing at the crimson furred guardian while his back was turned, avoiding the sneak attack, the robot was struck instead, receiving the business end of its stun rod, to the face - and exploding magnificently, for some odd reason - taking it out of the fight as Knuckles soared back into the fray. Seven to go.

"Tails, what's going on!" Shadow asked.

"Shadow, Eggman's attacking Angel Island!" he replied, trying to shoot a few firebolts to support his fighting friend, fly and have a conversation at the same time. "The Echidnas can't fend off all of these new badniks and Sonic hasn't come back!"

"Tails! Slow Down!" shadow commanded, concern evident in his voice. "Where do I have to be?" he asked, promising to help however he could.

"Come to the Master Emerald Shrine!" Tails cried, noticing Knuckles faltering under the robot onslaught, he dove towards the echidna, accidentally canceling the call as he shrieked "Knuckles watch out!" surprising one of the robots long enough to club it over the head with both of his namesakes, thoroughly disorienting it until one of the echidna's spiked fists detached the head from it's body. Six robots left.

"Feeling tired?" Knuckles chuckled, sporting a few bruises from too many close calls with the stun batons.

"Who, me?" Tails chuckled weakly, hurting all over from the physical strain, and fighting off a mild headache due to firebolt overuse.

The remaining six robots circled the duo, closing off any possible escape routes. Knuckles grinned, a feral, anticipatory gleam in his eyes. "Prepare yourse-" a spike in chaos energy from above them.

"Chaos Spear!" twelve lances of pale yellow energy descended, two smashing into each robot. Four were destroyed instantly, while one lost a leg just under the knee and stunned when the shot chipped part of it's face off. The other surviving robot no longer had any legs to speak of, but was intent to try and drag itself towards the fox and echidna, using its batons to steadily make its way closer.

It never registered the growing shadow overhead until the ebony hedgehog was upon it, plunging his blade into its head, the obsidian blade pulsating for a moment as it drained whatever powered the automaton. Silently, he sheathed the blade, looking at the stunned one-legged robot, eyed the two bruised and battered fighters, back to the robot and then his friends once more.

Shadow raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "You needed help with these things?"

"Shut up, Shadow" Knuckles grumbled. "They haven't had time to analyze your techniques yet."

"Excuses" Shadow hummed. "What was wrong with the idiot?" he asked Tails.

"He isn't answering the communicator, I'm a bit worried that he may have taken a direct hit from one of these nasty batons" he explained, pointing at one.

"What do they do?"

"I'm gonna say they stun" Knuckles offered. "Just being close to one of the things had my fur standing on end."

"The discharge may have been too much for the communicator to handle" the adolescent fox reasoned. "And, if he got hit, the surge that'll course through his body-"

"Will probably have him crawling for a while" Knuckles finished.

"Do you know where he went?"

"About thirty of the things split up and went into the surrounding area in groups of five, I think. Sonic went to stop them from reaching the Echidna villages" Tails explained.

"But if they're this tough, I don't know how many he'll be able to take down on his own."

"So, you want me to-" Shadow was interrupted when the three of them looked up to see the hatch in the carrier open once more, dispensing fifteen more of the wheeled robots and soaring off in a burst of air, leaving the others to cover their ears in pain as the shockwave produced by the departing ship reached them.

This bought the descending bots enough time to reach the ground and speed their way towards the recovered heroes.

"Well, they sure are faster than the doctor's usual creations" Shadow mused. "Now let's see what's so special about them!" he grinned, drawing Oblivion and rushing into the throng.

"He's crazy" Tails huffed, tiredly firing one or two - easily dodged - firebolts and feeling queasy for his efforts.

"Tails, you should get out of here while you can. Go find Sonic" Knuckles said, noticing the child's fatigue. "If you fly, you'll probably have a better chance at figuring out where Sonic is. And, if he didn't get all of the robots from earlier, you'll be able to spot where they are."

"But, what about this group?" Tails panted. "I don't even think Shadow can take all of them on his own. Plus, you're not looking too good yourself" he observed.

The echidna chuckled. "Don't underestimate us" he smiled, the feral glint returning to his violet eyes. "Now, go find that blue bastard and make sure he's alright?" Knuckles suggested, dashing into the fray alongside Shadow.

* * *

As Shadow made it to the first robot, one swift stroke was all it took to sever the arm it raised in preparation to strike, another stroke removed its head from the rest of the body. Sidestepping a charging robot, he neatly separated its legs from the torso - waist down - and carved the rest of it in half from top to bottom, all in two slashes.

"This is too easy!" Shadow laughed, blocking a baton with his sword and severing the robot's arm with a chaos infused chop with his hand, then spinning around to cut the robot - from hip to shoulder - in two. A flick of the wrist sent two chaos spears hurtling into the chest of an approaching bot, one lodging itself into its chest and destroying it in a magnificent explosion while the second erupted from its back before the explosion occurred, mangling the leg of a robot behind it before dissipating. Shadow ran up and beheaded the poor machine before it could crawl too far.

As if a switch had been flipped, the bots suddenly changed tactics, raining light, probing attacks from every direction and retreating before the hedgehog could mount a counterattack. Unprepared for the abrupt change in the battle flow, Shadow was forced to take the defensive, avoiding and parrying blows from all over. Beginning to glow a faint red, the ebony hedgehog began to growl "Chaos. Bla-!"

"Graagh!" Knuckles roared, completely blindsiding one of the robots as he buried a fist into the back of its head. Tearing a limb off of the motionless robot to use as an impromptu club of his own, the echidna flailed the metal leg around, keeping the remaining bots at bay to allow himself and Shadow a short reprieve.

"Having fun yet?" the echidna remarked.

"Just a bit. I had them right where I wanted them, too. Before you and your trusty" he gave the leg in Knuckles' hand a pointed look "….whatever that is. Jumped in and ruined my plans."

"Yeah, I don't know about you, but turning everything within a certain radius of you into a big mess of molten metal and a frikkin crater! Is not something I'd enjoy having on my island." Noticing Shadow still practically glaring at the leg in his hand, he growled "What! Not all of us can have a fancy sword to swing around. Besides" he grumbled "I prefer my fists anyway."

"Stand still for a moment" Shadow commanded, popping the knuckles in his free hand as he walked towards the echidna. "I want to see if this makes things easier" he commented, touching the leg with a finger.

* * *

'_What do you expect me to do with this?' _Oblivion asked.

'I dunno, make a spear or something' Shadow mentally shrugged.' So long as it can cut, I don't care.'

'_Your lack of appreciation for the art of weapon making saddens me. Regardless, you have provided me with a challenge that you are too lazy to solve on your own.'_

'Whatever, make with the shaping & whatnot' the hedgehog snapped.

'_I'll see what I can do with such a poor supply of material' _Oblivion relented.

'Thank you.' Shadow hesitated a second 'One last thing.'

'_What else do you need?'_

'Never mind.' The conversation ended.

* * *

Moments after Shadow's finger made contact with the metal in Knuckles' grasp, the echidna felt a strange jolt in his arm and instinctively let go of the limb with a cry of "What the-". Instead of dropping to the ground, the leg merely dangled in midair as parts of it separated, allowing the circuits and wires within to fall into the grass, discarded. After rejecting any unusable parts, the remaining pieces of metal quickly melded together, shaping "a…. spear? That's a neat trick, though a bigger blade would've been nice" the guardian replied, snatching the weapon out of the air and testing the sharpness of the six inch blade protruding from the five foot pole. "Pretty thin too" he commented, shrugging. After a few test twirls, he smirked "surprisingly sturdy though. I can work with this."

"Whenever you're done criticizing the thing" Shadow dryly inserted, "we can get around to finishing these things off" he added, indicating the warily advancing machines.

"Yeah yeah, let's do this!" Knuckles roared, spinning the spear above his head and smashing the butt of it to the ground, generating a tremor that disoriented the robots and Shadow. "Watch your step!" the Echidna mocked, pouncing upon the first bot and caving its face in before it could even attempt to right itself, then setting upon the next, running it through with the business end of his spear before forcefully ripping it out from the machines's side, in a spray of metal particles and wires.

"Ingrate" Shadow muttered, flipping to his feet and working on the robots towards the opposite end of the circle, lopping the head off of one and spinning around to catch a baton in his hand - chaos energy crackling around it, nullifying the baton's stun function - crushing the weapon to pieces as he swung the sword around as well, rending the attacking robot in half.

With their numbers dwindling quickly, the six remaining machines backtracked, attempting to regroup. However fast they were, Shadow was still faster as he caught up to one and struck out, only to be blocked. Frustrated, the Hedgehog placed both hands on the blade, pushing the robot back until it used both batons to push back, leaving the two in a stalemate as the other machines grouped together. With a final roar, a surge of chaos energy enveloped the sword for a moment, cleaving through the batons and the robot behind them like warm butter, triggering an impressive explosion in the process, which caused a plume of dirt and dusty smoke to cover a portion of the battlefield.

Seeing as their optics couldn't be hindered by such paltry conditions like smokescreen - wonderful things, those thermal scanners & such -, the robots raced into the cloud of smoke as Shadow coughed, unable to see more than five feet ahead of him. Suddenly, a pair of hands wrapped around his ankles and pulled him underground, the advancing machines skid to stop, unsure of where their target had disappeared.

* * *

Underground.

"Now, why didn't you do something like this earlier on?" Shadow asked, following the echidna as he burrowed a tunnel - in a direction that he assumed was left, or maybe right. Diagonally up, perhaps? - to wherever.

"I can't dig too fast with another person in the burrow, or it'll probably collapse and bury you. So I can only get us a few yards before the tunnel caves in" Knuckles answered. Adding "plus, if I used it in battle, they'd remember and I'd never be able to use it against these things."

"Saving this particular trick for a rainy day?"

"In a nutshell" he agreed. "Now where did I leave tha-" the guardian muttered. "Here it is!" he exclaimed, coming across the butt of the spear Shadow had made.

"Would you like share what you're planning?" Shadow drawled.

"…. Planning?" the echidna echoed. "This is just a chance for us to get some space and take a breather after that little assault" he replied, pulling himself and Shadow aboveground, a fair distance away from the dissipating smokescreen.

"Let's just get rid of these nuisances and be on our way" Shadow muttered. Scowling as the remaining machines located them and charged.

"With pleasure" Knuckles agreed, jogging alongside the black hedgehog to meet the onrushing robots.

* * *

"Son of a mother!" Sonic exclaimed, forcing his body to move as he ran - limped, really - through the forest of Angel Island. Seeing the trees around him growing more spread apart, the azure hedgehog sped up - to great protests from his aching body - and out of the forest.

"Where could the rest of those robots be?" he muttered, scanning the horizon for some sort of tell-tale sign.

There, in the distance, he saw smoke curling upwards.

'Shit! They've already reached a village!' the hero inwardly cursed, pouring more speed into his run as he headed toward the sight. Nearing the village, he could hear angry shouts and terrified screams, which only served to goad Sonic into going even faster, his body screaming in agony.

As he reached the small village, the situation became apparent. The echidnas were losing.

Red, Brown, Purple and Gray furred bodies lay scattered throughout the village, groaning - to Sonic's relief, they were alive - in pain if they hadn't passed out. Countless huts had been reduced to rubble by the fighting. The sounds of battle drew Sonic towards the center of the small village.

Two of the robots had been destroyed, while a good portion of the residents had been defeated, the remaining eight villagers doing all in their power just to avoid the three machines and their swift attacks.

One purple furred echidna wasn't fast enough, and met the steel foot of one of the machines, skidding across the ground and moaning in a decidedly female voice, unable to get up.

Enraged, another echidna lunged towards the offending robot, swinging blindly and falling victim to a baton to the face, shuddering for a moment as the electric current coursed through his body before slumping to the ground.

Before it could claim another, Sonic was upon it, spinning in the air to land a drop kick onto the center of its head, sending the robot crashing into the ground, destroyed.

The remaining two robots, alarmed at the destruction of their own and the appearance of Sonic, immediately sped towards the blue hedgehog, forgetting about their previous opponents.

An echidna soared - fists first -straight into the back of one of the machines, sending it to the floor as another pounced on it's head, crushing it with a flurry of punches.

Fatigued from the earlier battles and the run to this village, Sonic struggled to avoid the robot as it struck at him, seeming to know where his next move would be.

Suddenly, a spiked fist erupted from the machine's chest, halting it as another echidna appeared from above and smashed both of it's fists atop the robot's head, shattering it in a spray of metal before the robot itself collapsed.

"That takes care of that" a gray echidna stated.

* * *

"Thanks for the save" Sonic chuckled, addressing the two echidnas in front of him.

"Thank you for aiding us in defending our home" a red echidna replied, bowing his head.

"Yeah!" a female echidna chirped, brown dreadlocks fluttering as she bowed as well. "We probably would've bit the dust if you hadn't shown up."

"I only did what I could, there's no need to bow" the hedgehog laughed.

"What they say is correct, though" the graying echidna from before offered, striding towards Sonic. "I wish to thank you on behalf of our humble little village" he announced, bowing as well.

The remaining echidna followed suit.

"Like I said, there's no need for this" Sonic declared. "There are more of these things - he indicated the still smoking robots - on the island somewhere." At this, the echidna all straightened up, worried.

"How many?" the gray echidna asked.

"I think it was another group of the things, so five left" Sonic surmised. "They're probably off attacking another village. So I have to get going" he answered, grunting as he stretched his legs.

"No offense" the female echidna from before chimed in. "But the closest village is five hours away, if you run for the entire trip. I don't think you'll be able to help anyone else, let alone find out where the rest of these monsters - she kicked at one of the robots - are."

At this, Sonic smirked. "Don't underestimate, Sonic the Hedgehog!" he declared, running out of the village in a streak of blue, leaving a powerful gust of wind behind, disorienting the echidnas.

"That's…. unreal" an echidna breathed, awed.

* * *

High above, Tails flew in the sky, on the lookout for Sonic.

"Where could he be?" Tails mumbled to himself, eyes squinted as he peered down at the vast expanse of land below him. Past the forest, he could see two villages where curls of thick smoke billowed upwards. 'The robots must've gotten to those two villages' Tails deduced. 'But, did Sonic already stop them, or has he not even reached the end of the forest yet?'

His musings were interrupted when he spotted a blue streak leaving the closer village at a relatively high speed. "That's way too fast for any echidna I've ever seen, but not really Sonic's normal pace" Tails contemplated aloud. "Plus, whoever that is, they're going the wrong way…. It's definitely Sonic, knowing how he is with directions" the flying fox decided, angling himself towards the blue blur and diving, hoping to catch up before the robots could do any more damage to that village in the distance.


	6. What now?

Doctor Robotnik hadn't been this proud since outdoing himself on recreating Metal Sonic's entire internal circuitry subsystems.

But that's a story for another time.

The good doctor had spent the first two months after the fiasco with oblivion - and escaping from his would be captors - figuring out exactly what he had accidently gained from the strange entity.

One of his discoveries happened to be the ability to condense and partially solidify a small portion of the strange electrical energy he was able to manifest. Toying around with one of these odd creations, he found them to be completely harmless, unfortunately. Hit with one of his many fits of inspiration, the man wondered if it could possibly function as an alternative power source, rather than being forced to continuously pilfer chaos drives from GUN.

As luck would have it, they could not.

Seized by one of his - just as frequent - fits of rage, he thrust it into an unfortunate worker drone passing by. Expecting a semi satisfying explosion - or at least some sort of malfunction - of one kind or another, he bore witness to something most unexpected.

The crackling blob of energy began to merge with the machine's circuitry, travelling throughout the machine until it reached it's core, the chaos drive powering it. For a few moments, the robot glowed a strange green - the color of the drive within it - before fading away to leave it looking as if nothing had ever happened.

But the doctor knew better.

Snapping his fingers, another worker drone trotted towards it's master. "How may I assist you, sire?" it queried.

"You" he called, pointing towards the altered drone, "and you" he looked down at the new arrival. "Fight. Now" he commanded.

Since they hadn't been made with combat in mind, the doctor didn't expect much of a fight. However, the altered bot sprung towards the normal one, completely surprising Robotnik as well as it's opponent.

Although the other drone fought valiantly, it was unable to land a single blow upon the other machine, mangling it with each attack as it dodged and weaved through the normal bot's efforts.

The battle ended after forty seven seconds of decidedly one-sided brawling.

And our dear professor was struck with another fit of inspiration.

* * *

All of this lead to where the doctor sat now, reading through reports and video feeds of the raid on Angel Island. "Impressive" he chuckled, reviewing one of the videos. "The prototypes fared even better than anticipated" he remarked. "Although the armor could use a few improvements…. If I could bring their reaction time up even farther…." the man considered, chuckling to himself once more.

"This is absolutely incredible!" he cheered, throwing his arms wide as he guffawed. "Metal Sonic, when I rebuild…. You will be flawless!"

* * *

"Sonic!" Tails called, after getting close enough to the blue hedgehog to be heard.

"Huh, Tails? What's up?" Sonic asked, wincing as he skid to a stop.

Noticing his friend's grimace of pain, the fox asked "are you alright?"

"I'll be fine" the hedgehog reassured his friend, "I just got a little surprise from a few of those bots."

"Little, you look like you're going to drop at any moment!" Tails fussed.

"We can worry about me later, little buddy" Sonic sighed. "But first, I've gotta take out the last five of these things…." he trailed off. "Did you and Knuckles take care of the ones by the shrine?"

"Oh, yeah" Tails remembered. "I couldn't reach your communicator-"

"Yeah, it kind of broke" Sonic informed him.

"I figured as much" Tails sighed. "So I called Shadow, then he chaos controlled to the shrine in order to help. He and Knuckles stayed behind to fight off another wave of the things, while I was sent to help you" the boy summarized.

"Well, that makes things easier. And I know that those two can handle themselves" Sonic nodded.

"Yep, and I think you're going the wrong way" Tails mentioned. "While you left that town, I saw another village under attack, I think. We should check it out, unless you were already there…."

"They already got to a second village!" Sonic exclaimed. "Lead the way, Tails!"

"Right!" Tails saluted. "Let's go!"

* * *

Given how much the five remaining robots had learned of Knuckles & Shadow's fighting styles, the fight dragged on longer than the two would have liked. But in the end, they still emerged victorious - as well as bruised and tired - from among the wreckage of the fallen machines.

"That was not fun" Knuckles stated, summing up the end of their altercation while tossing his now useless pieces of broken spear behind him.

"You're telling me" Shadow huffed. "Do you think Tails found that idiot, yet?"

"Let's check" Knuckles shrugged, connecting to Tails' communicator.

"Knuckles? Are you and Shadow alright?" Tails' voice asked over the connection.

"Yeah, we took care of things on our end" Knuckles confirmed. "Did you find Sonic?"

"Yeah, I found him. We stopped the rest of the bots, too."

"Good, are the two of you alright?"

"Well, Sonic got a little beat up…. And they got to two of the villages" Tails sighed. "So we're helping with a bit of the rebuilding until a medic can look at him" the young fox informed him.

"Ok, we'll meet you over there."

Shadow chuckled.

"What's so funny?" the echidna asked.

"That idiot managed to get himself injured…. again" Shadow chuckled again. "He's accident prone, it seems."

"That's not…." Knuckles trailed off, lost in thought for a moment. "Actually, giving it some thought. He might be" he agreed.

"Exactly" the hedgehog replied, smug.

"Well, let's get to walking" Knuckles prompted, turning around and striding towards the forest.

"Meh, I'm all for destroying a few of The Doctor's more well-crafted robots…." Shadow sighed. "But helping people rebuild their homes and the like…. I'd rather opt out."

"Oh quit complaining" Knuckles scolded. "People need help, so we're going to help them."

"Yeah, yeah" Shadow waved him off, heading into the forest as well. "It just sucks that this had to happen on my day off from work."

* * *

Knuckles and Shadow arrived at the village a few hours later, unsurprised at the various echidna moving about and repairing what property damage they could.

"Hey guys!" a blue hedgehog haphazardly covered in bandages called, waving a hand to get their attention. "What took you?" he asked, limping towards them with the use of a crutch, since his leg was encased in an off-white cast.

"Sonic?" Knuckles asked, looking the teen up and down. "What happened to you?"

"I was a little surprised, is all" Sonic chuckled weakly, scratching the back of his head.

"It's nice to see that you still have little to no sense of self-preservation" Shadow remarked.

"Good to see you too, shads" Sonic replied. "Now, if you would be so kind, take us home!" he commanded with a flourish, pointing off into the distance. "After we get tails."

"Get me for what?" the small fox asked, walking up to the group.

"Nice, the gang's all here" Sonic observed. "Now, Shadow?"

"I hope you don't expect me to chaos control the three of you all the way to your home…. Just so you can accelerate your healing with the two chaos emeralds you have?"

"…. Is that a maybe?" the azure hero offered.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that healing yourself with the chaos emeralds too many times might ruin your body's natural recovery rate?" Shadow growled, crossing his arms.

"I haven't used the emeralds in-"

"Since yesterday" Tails tattled, not looking at his surrogate older brother.

"Tails, you traitor" Sonic grumbled.

"I do believe my point has been made" the swordsman in training smirked. "So, I think you should let your body repair itself naturally, while you help these villagers rebuild their homes" he decided. "See you later" he waved, before whispering "Chaos Cont-"

"Shadow, you can't be serious!" Sonic shrieked, diving and clinging onto his black furred counterpart's leg. "You can't leave me here with a bum leg and no chili-dogs" he wailed.

"Get off me, you nuisance!" the black hedgehog growled, flailing his leg in an attempt to remove the frantic hedgehog.

"Only if you take me-"

"Us" Tail corrected, irritated at the spectacle and the fact that people were stopping to stare.

"-take us, with you!"

"….Fine" Shadow sighed, motioning for the guardian and fox to get closer, seeing as Sonic hadn't let go of his leg.

"I think I'll stay here" Knuckles announced. "The villagers look like they still need help rebuilding, plus I think it would be a good idea to go over a few ways to make this and the other villages a little more…. Defensible" he explained.

"Suit yourself" Shadow shrugged, "less of a strain on my own remaining chaos reserves."

"Later Knuckles, we'll be back on Thursday" Sonic called, still clutching his friend's limb.

"Bye Knuckles!" Tails cheerfully waved, grabbing hold of Shadows arm.

At once, the trio vanished in a soft flash of green.

* * *

To those of you reading this, I'm sorry to say that I jumped into writing this story without much forethought put into an actual plot.

As such, this fic will be retired & rethought, to be presented at a later date.

My apologies, folks.


End file.
